India sends 250 troops, medical team to Aceh

India sends 250 troops, medical team to Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite having itself suffered from the tsunami disaster, India
is sending relief supplies and medical teams to neighboring
countries, including Indonesia, the Indian Embassy in Jakarta
said.

The embassy's defense attache, Col. K.J. Choudhary, said India
had committed US$25 million in grant assistance to Sri Lanka,
Maldives, Indonesia and Thailand.

"In the case of Indonesia, we have sent two Indian naval ships
for medical aid and emergency relief work at Meulaboh (in Aceh
province)," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

India has deployed 250 military personnel and a medical team
to Aceh, not 16,000 personnel as reported on page 12 of the
Post's Wednesday edition.

The two ships are the INS Nirupak, a floating hospital ship,
and the INS Khukri, which is carrying emergency relief supplies
including tents, blankets, clothing, food and medical supplies.

"The two naval ships have been deployed at Meulaboh in western
Aceh since Jan. 5," Choudhary said.

The INS Nirupak is a 45-bed hospital ship equipped with an
operation theater and three intensive care units, staffed by four
surgeons, an anesthetist, several physicians and paramedical
teams.

"Our medical team has been treating about 200 patients every
day.

"The medical team has also set up a blood transfusion unit in
Meulaboh General Hospital and I am sure it will be ready to help
more people," he said.

The INS Khukri has so far disembarked more than 35 tons of
relief supplies to the victims of the tsunami in the Meulaboh
area.

In order to provide effective relief operations, according to
Choudhary, the Indian navy's medical and relief teams were fully
coordinating with local authorities and the Indonesian Military.